The Norwegian trench

Life in complete darkness

Some areas of the North Sea have never seen the light of day.

In the depths of the North Sea

57:40N 08:50E Depth ca. 200 metres

Imagine 7 upright football fields. This is how deep the North Sea is on its deepest place, the Norwegian Trench – that is more than a half kilometre! Here, it is always dark and the water pressure is enormous. This creates an environment where only the Norway lobster, the deep-water prawn and other sea floor animals can live. Welcome into the depths…

The Norwegian Trench is the closest we get to a deep sea environment in the North Sea. On the deepest place it is 725 metres deep. In comparison, the deepest sea depth in the world is more than 11,000 metres deep.

It’s always dark in the Norwegian Trench, but the animals on the seabed have adjusted to this. This is the case for two crustacean species that are very important to the Danish fishing industry; these two species are delicacies throughout Europe.